The Pink Bathwater
by ILikeCats1998
Summary: Dipper falls ill suddenly and Mabel is now alone. Her downward spiral without her brother.


Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy sat sprawled on the grass. It was another sweltering August day. Heat radiated off the nearby asphalt and the sun beat down unforgivingly without a cloud in sight. Business had slowed to a crawl at the Mystery Shack and the heat was making everyone a little bit more irritable than usual. Wendy blew a piece of hair off of her face. Mabel stood up and began to gather wildflowers to weave into a crown. Dipper nervously glanced at Wendy, her hair pulled up into a haphazard bun, neck exposed. The heat seemed to put an almost immediate end to any conversation, as if talking was just too much effort. Wendy examined her nails.

"When do you guys start school?" asked Wendy, pushing the same stubborn piece of hair out of her face again.

"Um I'm not sure, sometime in September I think" stammered Dipper as he wiped a drop of sweat from his brow.

"Cool" Wendy said nonchalantly before lapsing into silence again. Mabel bent down to grab a particularly vibrant dandelion. Her hair flew wildly around her face as a gust of wind ruffled the grass. Wendy's phone buzzed. She picked it slowly from the grass and glanced at the screen before letting out a small laugh.

"Who was it?" said Dipper anxiously. He hoped it was Grunkle Stan telling them to head back, he didn't think he could stand this heat much longer, it was starting to make him feel a little faint (not that he would ever admit that in front of Wendy). He had no idea how Mabel was still wearing a sweater in such temperatures.

"Just Tambry" divulged Wendy with a roll of her eyes "she took an insane picture of an apple. I have no idea how she did this but the apple looks like it has a face." Wendy pulled out her phone to show Dipper as it buzzed again.

"Tambry again?"

"Nah, actually it's your uncle, he says we better head back soon. The county's issued a heat advisory. Hey Mabel! We've got to go!" Mabel skipped over, her arms full of wildflowers. Wendy stood up and stretched. "C'mon Dipper" Wendy reached out a hand to help him up. The cloudless cobalt sky and blazing sun shone down as Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel began the trek through the woods back to the Mystery Shack.

The path back to the Mystery Shack was narrow, Dipper, Wendy, and Mabel walked in single file with Mabel in the lead.

"I hope that these flowers don't get droopy before I can make Waddles a crown" said Mabel with concern, she scrutinized a couple of dandelions for effect.

"I just hope that Waddles won't eat the crown" giggled Wendy with a snort. Mabel laughed. Dipper shaded his eyes from the sun and blinked, feeling a bit woozy.

"Is it okay if we sit down for a while guys?" interjected Dipper, motioning towards a log to the side of the path "I'm feeling a little dizzy" black dots began to speckle Dipper's vision as he sat. Wendy and Mabel ceased laughing and peered at Dipper with concern clouding her normally jovial mocha colored eyes.

"You okay?" asked Wendy. Dipper tried to focus on her but she kept getting fuzzy "Dipper?" A whooshing noise filled his ears. The black dots began to get bigger, blocking out Wendy and Mabel "Dipper!" Mabel yelped as his eyes rolled back, trying in vain to catch him before he hit the dusty path.

"Mabel, stay right here. I'll go get your uncle" Urged Wendy as she took off down the path. Mabel stayed kneeling in the dirt, cradling her brother's head in her lap. Mabel bit her lip and willed herself not to cry.

_What if Dipper doesn't wake up_

_What if he's dying_

A tear fell from Mabel's eye and onto Dipper. Another fell, and another, until it looked as though Dipper had been crying too. Dipper's breathing was shallow when Wendy came back with Grunkle Stan. Without a word to either of them Grunkle Stan scooped up Dipper and began hurriedly heading down the path.

"C'mon kiddo, your brother'll be fine" reassured Wendy. Mabel brushed away her tears and looked at Wendy, scrutinizing her as she had scrutinized the dandelions almost an hour before. Wendy looked terrified. Mabel looked away. "Mabel, we've got to go. Dipper will want you to be there at the hospital when he wakes up. Your uncle's already called an ambulance so we'd better get a move on." Mabel stood slowly and Wendy offered her hand. Solemnly Mabel and Wendy walked together in silence to the Mystery Shack.

Mabel sat alone in the hospital room. Grunkle Stan had gone to go get waffles from the hospital cafeteria. Rain pounded against the window. It was a cold damp September morning. School was starting in a week. Wendy had tried to take her back-to-school shopping back had eventually resigned herself to the fact that Mabel was not going to leave Dipper's side. She had only gone home twice in the three week long period that Dipper had been in the hospital. Grunkle Stan had called their parents who tried to book a flight, only to find that the closest flight was in late September. Mabel had amassed a pile of sweaters, stuffed animals, and books, brought to the hospital by Wendy in an attempt to cheer her up. Wendy had long since stopped making those attempts after the first week or so. Dipper still hadn't woken up. The doctors didn't know why. Dipper was alive but just by a hair. His breathing was labored and his pallor just about matched the egg shell colored walls of the hospital room. A heart monitor steadily beeped with his heart.

_Beep beep._

Mabel looked at her brother, lying so broken and vulnerable in the hospital bed. He looked so young and small. The hospital bed seemed to swallow him.

_Beep beep._

A nurse shuffled down the hallway chattering to her friend.

_Beep beep._

Mabel wished that Dipper would just wake up. That all of this could just have been a bad dream.

_BEEEEEEP_

The sharp noise startled Mabel back into reality. His heart monitor! It had stopped! Mabel jammed her finger into the 'Nurse' button repeatedly but to no avail. Dipper's labored breathing began to slow to a halt. Mabel ran into the hallway.

"Doctor! Anyone! My brother's heart monitor just stopped!" Mabel screamed, her voice cracking as tears began to spill down her cheeks. Where were the nurses who just moments before had been in the hallway? Where was Grunkle Stan? "Help!" Mabel yelled. He couldn't leave her. Dipper couldn't just die. A doctor rounded the corner and immediately saw Mabel weeping. As he rushed over she explained in a choked voice what had just happened. Without helping her to her feet the doctor rushed in and began to try to resuscitate Dipper. Mabel stood in the doorway where she was eventually joined by Grunkle Stan and a lone blueberry waffle. The concentration of the doctor was eerily calming.

"I'm sorry" he whispered after around 10 minutes of trying fervently to revive her brother "He's gone." Mabel fell to her knees and as an animalistic howl ruptured from her throat.

"No!" she wailed, distraught with grief. "No!"

It was still raining the day they buried him, the same cold thunderous rain. The kind of rain that washes away everything in its path. Mabel's mother hugged her close. Mabel's eyes were downcast as they lowered her brother into the damp muddy earth. Mabel's eyes were bloodshot from crying. He'd abandoned her. He'd left her all alone. Sure she had her parents , Grunkle Stan, and a few friends but who could ever understand her like Dipper? Who could be there for her like he always was?

Daily life was a struggle without Dipper. Their old room always empty without him. Mabel became more and more withdrawn. Sweaters no longer held the same joy. So she stopped wearing them. Waddles grew and eventually Mabel decided to give him up. He reminded her too much of Dipper. When they won him, and kept going back in time to try to have Dipper win Wendy a stuffed animal. Pacifica and her posse brought their bullying up to a new notch, it was relentless. Her parents suggested that she move back to California, so she did. Life there was just as dismal, if not more so than life in Gravity Falls. All Mabel wanted was Dipper. She was so lonely. Loneliness can either sit on the surface or manifest itself in your very being. Mabel's loneliness was manifested deep into her core being. Without Dipper, Mabel felt inadequate and discarded. Despite Mabel's move to California, Pacifica and her posse kept up their constant hostile taunts.

y dont u go kill urself so u and ur brother can be together

y so sad? Mabel lol so glad you moved away no 1 misses u

wendy told me that ur a total weirdooo

ur uncle tried to hit on lazy susan. Creep

dipper died because of u

even lil Gideon doesnt like u anymore

what do u even have left mabel?

At her new school Mabel wasn't doing so well either, academically or socially. Ashamed of herself and lost without her brother she was always alone.

_Who would miss me anyway?_

_Who even cares?_

_What is there to live for?_

It was a hot August day, much like the one that had claimed Dipper's life, when Mabel's mind couldn't bear the raw devastation that had been trapped there for almost a year. Tormented sobs racked her small frame as she locked herself in the bathroom, turned on the water in the bath, got in, and with Dipper's old pocket knife she slit her wrists. Her brown hair fanned out in the water around her, her mocha eyes glassy and unblinking.

_Maybe now I can be with Dipper again, and this can all just be a bad dream._

The bathwater was tinted the same pink as the sweaters she once wore, when Dipper was alive.


End file.
